


Flesh and Metal

by fox_an_hound



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Cussing, Cyborg!Keith, Dragons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Genius Pidge, M/M, allura hunk and lance are siblings, anxiety attack, becuase the lions are dragons, bonding moment, did i mention dragons, doctor? Pidge, just trust me guys, keith shirogane?, mechanic Pidge, shiro and allura are sickly sweet i assure you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-12-29 16:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12089007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fox_an_hound/pseuds/fox_an_hound
Summary: After two years of staying indoors and playing it safe, Prince Keith is finally ready to meet his brother's betrothed's family. However, his lack of a childhood has left him with next to no actual social skills. He can communicate with his brother, mother, and only friend (the child genius who saved his life - they don't have the best social skills either) with no problem, but how is he with the obnoxiously loud and filter-free prince who is one day going to be a part of his family?When you have less self esteem than a flea (and somehow still refuse to acknowledge what you are) you don't make it far in life.---Cyborg!Keith -finger guns-





	1. Altea: First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you're here either for Cyborg!Keith or Dragon!Lions, because that's what I'm here for!  
> I'm actually really excited about this? I hope you are too?!

The kingdom of Altea was hosting a small get-together with the royal family of Kolia to celebrate the upcoming marriage between Princess Allura and Prince Takashi. It was unnecessary – in Keith’s mind – because the wedding wasn’t for another two years; however, it seemed Altea was a very celebratory nation. There was a ball scheduled a week after they arrived and Keith was expected to attend, dressed formally.

Both Keith and Shiro were anxious, though for very different reasons.

Shiro was above and beyond anxious for their mother to meet Allura. Keith his fears no mind. After the fifteenth time trying to explain that their mother already loved Allura, Keith gave up and began flaming the fires of Shiro’s anxiety. Shiro knew that Mother would love Allura, he was just head over heels and wanted everything to be perfect. Moreover, with the way Shiro talked about the princess, it seemed no one could walk away without being charmed by her.

Keith was anxious because it would be the first time he was well enough to travel the long distance to Altea, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he should act. (He had had many lessons, but what if he forgot his manners when greeting the King and Queen?)

Keith was also worried that Allura’s younger siblings would hate him or be scared of him. He was a cyborg, and not many people took that news well. The oldest of Allura’s younger siblings, Prince Lance, was Keith’s age, so obviously – according to Shiro – he was expected to keep Keith company. Keith didn’t know how to feel about that.

From what Keith had seen from the tabloids and all over the news, Prince Lance was a people person. Not only the entire of Altea’s teenaged population was in love with him, but it seemed the majority of Kolia’s was too. It was also clear to see that Prince Lance loved the attention he got. Keith, on the other hand, was more of an in-the-shadows kind of guy. (Would they even get along? They would be siblings one day, so they had to get along, right?)

In every family picture, Keith was the grumpy, unrememberable one. Even after their father passed and it was the three of them, Keith didn’t stand out. It was better that way, though. No one in history was happier to be a shadow child than Keith was, especially when his health started to decline in his eighth year.

The memory sent faux shivers down his spine and he looked down to his hands, on reflex, clenching them. His imagination supplied the sounds of metal moving against metal as the blueprint of the metalwork under his skin showed across his vision. With a forceful blink, the blueprint disappeared once more.

Keith shifted his focus to the window of the plane, surprised to see light from Pidge’s laptop being reflected in the glass. He rested his forehead on the glass and closed his eyes, knowing better than to question the young genius’s sleeping habits – or lack thereof.

He wished he could just fall asleep, but he couldn’t calm his worries long enough to do so. He found himself thinking of Red, down in the cargo hold, and almost immediately felt her presence slide against his mind reassuringly.

It was enough to let him relax long enough to have the remainder of the flight pass uneventfully.

\--

The second the wheels touched the runway – ok, maybe not the second the wheels touched because he was forced to stay seated and buckled in until the plane was no longer moving, but as soon as he could – Keith all but sprinted off the plane and over the rail for the steps, giving a roll onto the runway before quickly standing up. He darted to where the dragons were being released from the hold and waited as patiently as he could, Red chuckling at his fretfulness in his mind.

It was an amazing sight, watching the dragons slip from the plane onto the ground without a sound. Not even Shiro’s absurdly large friend made a sound as she settled onto the blacktop, stretching her wings first out than back. Without hesitation, she took two lumbering leaps before snapping her wings down to lift herself in the air.

Each dragon that slipped down was beautiful, that much was a given, but there was only one who held the young prince’s attention. When Red emerged, Keith’s heart swelled with pride at the sight of her and a relieved smile edged its way over his face. Her mate, slipped down nearly at the same time, the two wrapped around each other in the way only lovers were. He was desensitized to the short playful quarrel between them – Red’s growl and her mate’s answering gnashing of teeth. He stiffened, however, when he heard a chorus of gasps behind him.

Red detangled herself from her bright blue counterpart – ignoring what could only be translated as frustrated bemoaning, as if the blue dragon wished to continue to cuddle together and sleep the day away – and shook her mane slowly before starting toward Keith. _We have an audience, love._ She said, the words in Keith’s head only. He watched her gaze roam over a larger portion of area than he was sure Shiro, their mother, and Pidge took up. _Perhaps you should turn around and introduce yourself._ Red lowered her head to Keith and used her snout to turn him around, his hands coming up to caress her beautiful face as he allowed himself to turn around.

His stomach dropped as he noticed that he had ignored the entire Altean royal court as a first impression.

He swallowed, taking stiff steps forward with Red pushing him from behind, “I, uh…” Keith stopped, reaching up to scratch his hair, trying desperately to wrack his brain for how he was supposed to introduce himself.

Shiro apparently could sense Keith’s growing panic because he cleared his throat to grab everyone’s attention, “Your Majesties, your Royal Highnesses,” He inclined his head before extending his arm, “I would like to formally introduce my brother, His Royal Highness, Keith Shirogane, Prince of Kolia.”

Keith picked up his hand quickly before dropping it and letting out a meek, “Hi.”

“He’s a _prince?_ Dressed like _that?_ I thought he was one of the animal caretakers.” A voice huffed quietly, though not quietly enough.

Keith’s vison singled out the speaker quickly – it was Prince Lance, of course – and he couldn’t keep his expression from dropping into a glare or his arms from crossing over his chest self-consciously. What was wrong with how he was dressed?

He didn’t have long to think about his appearance, though, because the woman beside Lance whacked him over the head hard enough that Keith could hear the thud fifteen feet away as she started to make her way over to where Keith was standing, though she stopped about three feet short of him when Red rose into a sitting position, looming over Keith protectively.

“It is an honor to meet you, Prince Keith.” She said with a look over to Shiro, “I’ve heard so much about you it feels that this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

Keith chuckled, relaxing and dropping his arms, “I’m sure I’ve heard more about you, and in more detail, Princess Allura.” He said with a smirk, glancing to where Shiro was pointedly ignoring them to introduce Mother to Allura’s parents. Keith’s audio could pick up on Shiro’s heartbeat being a bit more elevated than normal though, and even if he hadn’t had advanced vision, he would have seen the blush covering Shiro’s face.

Allura turned her gaze back to Keith and glanced up at Red before offering her hand out to Keith, “I understand if you’d rather I didn’t, but may I introduce you to my very rude brother?”

“I can _hear_ you Allura!” Lance screeched.

“Good, perhaps you will learn to be kinder to our guests in the future!” She snapped over her shoulder.

Keith looked at Allura’s hand wearily before reaching out and accepting it. If she noticed that his hand was much colder that it should have been, she didn’t acknowledge it in the slightest. For that, Keith was thankful. “I would rather meet your nicer siblings, but I suppose I would have to meet him eventually.”

“I can hear you too, Mullet!” Lance scoffed and crossed his arms indignantly.

“In that case,” Allura stated, seeming to ignore Lance, “We can meet the rude one very last. Hopefully he will remember where he put his manners by then.”

Keith absolutely beamed at Allura, in that moment understanding why Shiro was so in love with her.

The two of them spent the next hour meeting and chatting with all the younger siblings – two of which argued over if Keith or Shiro had cooler tech after they found out that Keith was also “part robot” – all while ignoring Lance. Keith learned all the names from Shiro, but now it was a game of putting faces and ages to names. He managed to figure out there was one sibling – the nicest one, according to Shiro – missing from the meet-and-greet, but didn’t comment on it.

The very youngest, a three-year-old named Mateo, insisted on Keith holding him and introducing him to Red. When the other four heard that, they almost tackled Keith with demands to meet the “giant snake lion” too.

Keith looked at Allura, a little apprehensive, “Would it be ok–”

He was cut off by a loud groan and furious stomping. Lance was suddenly in his face, expression pinched like he was pouting – but that couldn’t be, right? – and let out an over exaggerated sigh before plastering a giant, fake smile onto his face, “Hi, I’m Prince Lance, second in line to the throne of Altea, maybe you’ve heard of me? No need to swoon.” Keith’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “I’m sorry I called you a caretaker, earlier. I’m most of all sorry about your ridiculous haircut. Honestly, it’s an eyesore and you should fix it. I would be willing to do it, but your hair also looks like you haven’t washed it in a week.”

 _What the fuck?_ Keith’s expression darkened considerably and he opened his mouth to tell him off, but he felt a hand on his arm. Shiro coming out of nowhere and butting in, like always.

“Keith, are we showing the kids how awesome our dragons are?” Keith looked up and noticed Shiro’s eyebrows were raised expectantly.

 _I will not meet the rude one._ Red’s voice huffed in Keith’s mind, his anger and annoyance blending with her own. He looked over at her and noticed her tail twitching and her teeth bared in a snarl.

“She says that she doesn’t want Lance any closer to her than he is now. Also, that he’s rude and that he sucks at apologies. However, she wants to meet everyone else.”

When Keith turned back around, all the kids screamed in joy and scrambled over one another in a rush to head to Red. Even the one in his arms screamed with joy to be let down and he took off on tiny legs after his siblings. Red lowered herself to the ground and became as docile as a house kitten, letting the children climb all over her.

“I’m rude?!” Lance huffed, “At least I’m not hiding my feelings behind an animal’s ‘feelings.’” Lance air-quoted before he crossed his arms and turned his head.

Keith, Shiro, and Allura all stared blankly at Lance. Keith was sure he was the only one thinking that the other boy was a complete imbecile, though.

After a few moments of silence, Lance looked back at them and his eyebrows pulled in, “Why are you three looking at me like that?”

Somehow it was Keith who answered first, though Shiro was right on his tail, “That is the _highest_ of insults to such magnificent and intelligent-”

“Don’t let a dragon hear you call her an animal incapable of her own thoughts and speech-” Shiro said warily.

Soon enough their words mingled into an indistinguishable mess and Lance looked a little confused, mostly apologetic, and a bit scared.

“How _dare_ you say such a thing?! Are you really this _stupid?_ ”

“Keith! That was rude!” Shiro turned to him with a frown.

“No, Shiro!” Keith turned to his older brother, ignoring the bright red flashing over his vision, “It’s- It’s- It’s- _Disgraceful!_ ”

“He didn’t know better, Keith.” Shiro said, concern starting to take over his features, “Keith, I know you didn’t sleep the entire flight and your wires are crossed, which is why I’m telling you that you need to calm down before you shut down.” He stated firmly.

Keith knew he needed to calm down, but he was freaking out. Dragons were… They were _amazing_ and _kind_ and _intelligent_ Lance needed to _know that._ But he just thought they were a dime a dozen! Like some stray cat or a horse or a _dog_ or something? _How could he think that?_

Keith continued to work himself up in his (lack of an) effort to calm himself down and soon he felt his body seize up and his vision blacked out.

\--

When Keith came to, he was in an unfamiliar room, but there was a familiar weight pressed on and wrapped around his body. The date and time at the bottom of his vision informing him that only five hours had passed. Unconsciously, his hand traveled up Red’s sleek body to her mane and tangled in the fur there.

Without reviewing it, Keith deleted the audio file that was recorded while he was out and stood up, Red shrinking even more until she was about the size of a house cat and wrapped herself around his neck and chest, laying her head on his shoulder. She said nothing, but he could feel her moving over his mind almost like she was petting him.

He noticed his jacket had been taken off, but gloves left on and wondered if that had been Shiro’s doing.

When his stomach rumbled, absurdly loud in the quiet, he was reminded that he hadn’t eaten in nearly thirty- six hours and stealthily snuck out of the room. He looked both ways before pulling up a blueprint of the castle. It was no easy feat to find where the kitchens were, considering how large the castle was, but once he found it, he was off. (He pushed the map to the side of his vision in case he needed to look again. Which he did. Frequently.)

After nearly another hour, he found the kitchens and closed the blueprint. Shiro and Allura were standing, talking to someone who was cooking. He was wearing clothes in similar fashion to Lance from earlier and resembled Allura. Keith frowned slightly, wondering who he was.

Allura was the first to notice him and she looked a bit worried, but smiled nonetheless. She waved at him, keeping her distance.

Keith wondered if that was because she was near Shiro or if it was because he completely freaked earlier.

He was about to wave back when the doors opposite the ones he came through burst open and Lance strolled in – in a different outfit from earlier, Keith noted – the words on his lips dying as he saw Keith.

Keith was taken aback by the amount of relief that took over Lance’s features, but he was absolutely shook when, in the next second, he was lifted into the air, a pair of arms bone crushingly tight around his abdomen. “You’re ok!” Lance cried joyously before setting Keith down and absentmindedly scratching under Red’s chin – and she let him!

Keith was absolutely confused, but used the moment to his advantage, “I’m sorry… Do I know you?” He frowned and raised an eyebrow.

Lance took a step back, looking a tad hurt, “Uh yeah… I’m Lance? _Prince Lance?_ We met like six hours ago? When your flight landed? You’re in Altea? Your name is Keith?”

Keith looked Lance up and down before turning to Allura – both she and Shiro looked sincerely worried – unable to keep a smirk from touching his face, “He’s a _prince?_ Dressed like _that?_ I though he was one of the chefs.”

Allura’s eyes widened and she hid a snort behind her hand before dissolving into laughter.

Shiro tried to look disappointed, but he couldn’t keep a smile from his face.

Keith turned his gaze back to Lance, who was staring at him with his mouth wide open and eyebrows in his hairline, completely offended.

Lance pulled himself together and stood up straight, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes, _“Okay,_ I _guess_ I deserved that!” He huffed.

His mood did a one eighty fast enough to give Keith whiplash, and he grabbed Keith’s hands, “Anyway, Mullet Man, I’m so happy you’re awake because I have to show you something _totally awesome!”_  Lance refused to wait for an answer, tugging a very reluctant Keith by his hands.

Keith frowned, “Mullet Man?” he muttered before frowning, “Uh, yeah I guess I can go see what it is, but…” Keith looked back to where the guy was cooking something. It smelled so good.

Lance stopped dragging Keith to look at him, “But what?”

“But-” Keith’s stomach growled louder than Red did and Keith sighed, “But I’m a little hungry.” He finished unnecessarily.

Shiro frowned, “Keith, when was the last time you ate?”

“I don’t really remember…”

“Keith!”

A notification blocked his vision before he closed it and sighed, “I had a small snack before we started packing.” He huffed and moved to cross his arms, only to find that Lance was still holding his hands. They were warm and soft.

“When was the last meal you had?” Shiro’s look darkened considerably.

“Uhh….” Keith looked away, “When was the last time we sat down for dinner?” He mumbled out.

Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Between you and Pidge stressing me out, I’m going to die at thirty-five.” He said under his breath, “Lance, you’re going to have to wait to show Keith to Blue until he eats. Hunk? I’m so sorry to ask-”

Oh, so this was the other royal sibling, Hunk. Keith wondered, not for the first time, if that was a nickname or not.

“No need to apologize, Shiro. I made enough.” Hunk smiled and started ladling soup into five bowls, “Lance, I’m assuming you want some too?”

“Of course I do!” Lance practically shouted, dropping Keith’s hands, leaving them oddly warm, in favor of jumping onto the counter and making grabby hands at the bowl of soup. “If I ever say no to your cooking, kill me that instant because that is not me.”

Hunk chuckled and handed a bowl to Lance happily.

Keith cocked his head and frowned, “Wait, where is Pidge? I haven’t seen them since we landed?”

Keith stumbled when someone pushed by him. The mop of golden brown hair let him know it was Pidge, “I heard there’s food.” They said expectantly while rubbing their hands together, “Hunk’s famous soup! I can’t wait to try it!”

“I-it’s not _famous!”_ Hunk squeaked in embarrassment, though poured a bowl for them too. Keith noted that his face gradually reddened.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Where did you come from?” Keith grumbled, but followed them closer to the counter.

“That’s confidential information.” They muttered before scooping soup into their mouth and groaning, “Fucking _famous!”_

Keith gently took an offered bowl and leaned against the counter beside his friend, taking an experimental bite. He, himself, closed his eyes and moaned around the food in his mouth, “This soup is the reason I thank Pidge for letting me keep my tongue and taste buds.” He grunted, stuffing more soup into his mouth as fast as he could.

“’Keep your tongue and taste buds?’” Lance’s voice sounded a bit disgusted and Keith opened his eyes to see Lance staring at him like he was an alien. “Ok, that’s kind of weird, and I normally don’t put weird things past the gremlin, but dude… _What the fuck?”_

“What the fuck, _what?”_ Keith’s voice totally didn’t squeak.

Lance looked around as everyone looked at him curiously, “Why are you guys looking at me like that? Keith is the one saying Pidge tried to cut out his tongue? C’mon I can’t be the only one who thinks that’s _weird?”_

It was Pidge who broke the uncomfortable silence, “Keith is a cyborg, Lance.” They started quietly, looking at Keith and noticing him keep his gaze firmly on the half empty bowl of soup he was no longer eating. “You remember that, right?”

“Yeah, of course I do.” Lance sighed, “He’s cold as metal, so even if I forgot, that would let me know. Plus, his eyes get all weird and light up and stuff.” Lance raised his hand to his face and wiggled his fingers.

 _Weird?_ Keith set his bowl on the counter quietly, pushing Red out of his mind completely. His body felt cold and empty, like a robot. His brain once more supplied sounds of whirring machinery to complete the illusion – reality – that he was just a robot. He wasn’t a person anymore. He was too much of a machine to be a person.

Subconsciously, Keith knew the conversation was continuing around him, audio picking it up and adjusting the volume and clarity to force Keith to continue to listen even though he didn’t want to. Distantly, he felt Shiro touching him.

No, that wasn’t Shiro, the hands were too manicured and slender to be Shiro. And the skin was too dark.

“Keith? Hellooooooo! Keeeeeith! Earth to Keith? Mullet Man? Mullet. Emo. Emo boy.” There were now fingers snapping in his face, “Come in Space Command. Shiro, your brother broke again, but he isn’t passed out.”

“Lance, leave him alone.” That wasn’t Shiro’s voice either. Where was Shiro?

Pressure wrapped tightly against his chest, startling him enough that Red broke through his defenses, cursing in her original tongue. He frowned, her voice wasn’t in his head. She wasn’t cursing at Keith. Keith looked up to see Lance two feet away from him – when had he moved away? – and Red, teeth bared from his shoulder, anger aimed at Lance.

“Red.” He said so quietly he doubted anyone else could hear. She stopped immediately and wrapped around his throat. She wasn’t crushing his throat, nor his chest he then realized, only squeezing hard enough to ground him.

He felt exhausted. “Shiro, I’m gonna…. I’m gonna go take a nap.” He said quietly before clenching his fists at his sides, “Can you take me?” Then bitterly added, “Don’t wanna freak anyone out by flashing my eyes.”

“Keith-” Lance started, voice cracking a bit.

Keith ignored him, opting to clutch Shiro’s shirt and follow him.

It was a lot quicker to get to the room Keith had woken up in than it had been for Keith to get to the kitchen.

Red dropped from Keith’s shoulder to grow again, roughly the height of a Great Dane now, and trotted over to the bed, curling up tightly around herself.

“Lance isn’t a bad guy, Keith.” Shiro said, forcing his way into the room to help Keith settle in. “He just isn’t sensitive to certain things.” He pulled Keith’s gloves off, checking his hands for any issues. He clicked a button on Keith’s palm and Keith looked away, gut clenching, as his skin opened along almost hidden lines to reveal the hardware underneath. Pidge made it as aesthetically pleasing as they could, and for that Keith would always be grateful, but it was hard to fit in when your hands and torso literally glowed.

“You haven’t been taking care of yourself.” Shiro stated after closing Keith’s hands.

“Please don’t.” Keith said quietly, “I don’t need a lecture. I just want to fall asleep like a normal person.” He shrugged from Shiro’s grip and dropped face first onto the bed he was assigned.

He heard Shiro squat next to his head – old man knees popping too many times each, “Mom wants to know if you want to go back to Kolia before the ball.” Shiro whispered.

Keith moved his head to look at his brother, “Can I leave tonight?” He mumbled.

Suddenly Shiro’s face broke into a mean smirk, “I said Mom wanted to know. Didn’t say I was going to let you get out of it.”

“Dick.” Keith glowered and pulled the pillow over his head.

Shiro laughed and stood back up, barely suppressing a grunt of relief.

“Do you want to be woken for dinner?” Shiro asked from the door.

Keith gave a noncommittal grunt and shuffled his body against the mattress.

Shiro laughed once again and closed the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Find me on Tumblr!](https://thespiritofeon.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Please consider buying me a coffee!](https://ko-fi.com/A3714P0Z)


	2. It's All Fun and Games...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro stopped and turned to face him, “Of course I would never say anything bad about her! She’s older than me and she’s the heir to a nation.”
> 
> “You… Do know that… You are also the heir to a nation, right?” 
> 
> “Why, no I didn’t. Thanks for letting me know.” His voice was loaded to the brim with sarcasm and he quickly pulled Keith into a headlock, “Smartass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and kudos!  
> All of you are sweet!
> 
> I'm sorry it took a little longer to get this chapter posted; school, y'know?  
> To make up for it, I made this chapter a bit longer than the last one!  
> Hope you like this one just as much!

He hadn’t wanted to be, but Keith found himself awake at eight in the morning, the morning light cutting across his face and warming his skin. It was a simple transition, one minute he was asleep and the next his eyes were blinking open. For a moment he wondered where Red was – not feeling her wrapped around his chest or on the bed next to him – but then he felt her wrapped around his wrist, coiled four times up to his elbow, and he relaxed.

After taking a minute to appreciate the quiet, he berated himself for his behavior the day before. He had been too soft and easily upset, and it bothered him more than it should’ve. He was mostly machine and he _knew_ that, but a few words from a stranger sent him reeling? Not again. He could get through the day without freaking out.

Not much time had passed before Keith began to move restlessly in his bed. Almost immediately, he tossed himself off the mattress and began collecting a change of clothes. As an afterthought, he strode to the window and opened it, sticking his arm out and letting Red detach herself and fly off. After closing the window once more, Keith made his way out of the bedroom, pulling up the castle’s blueprint to locate the nearest bathroom.

\--

Standing under the spray with his eyes closed, Keith sighed. The feeling of the hot water on his sore muscles was heavenly and he tipped his head back into the spray. After a minute or two of relishing and stretching in the stream, Keith methodically started to bathe himself. He gave his body a thorough once over before focusing most of his attention on his hair. It was a little obsessive, shampooing three different times, but he refused to acknowledge the reason behind his actions.

After he was clean and dressed, Keith found himself searching for his brother, wondering if he was up for a sparring round or two. Keith rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms, already pumped up.

He hadn’t known where Shiro could have been – considering it was a large castle – so he was wandering around the halls aimlessly.

He heard grunts and clashing of metal, as well as excited ‘whoop’s and turned to the noise to see what it was. What he found left him speechless and confused.

He was standing in the doorway of a huge room with high ceilings – there were countless weapons adorning one wall, most of which were sharp, pointy, and made of steel. Shiro wasn’t sparring, (not in the way Keith was familiar with, at least) he was…. standing sideways... and poking at some weird alien-looking biped with a tiny sword that looked like it could do little to zero damage.

If the grunted curses (and Shiro gaining no ground) were anything to go by, he would say his brother was losing.

Keith’s eyebrows pulled together as he tried to figure out the purpose of this particular strategy, but it was baffling him, to say the least.

Suddenly, for seemingly no reason at all, the two stopped waving the unrealistic swords and the alien took off his head? No, that was just a mask. With Lance under it. Smiling. Ugh, why was he always smiling? _Why does his smile make him look more beautiful?_ Red chuckled in his mind and Keith immediately pushed that thought out of his head and frowned.

“Believe it or not, Shiro, you’re improving.” Lance said, sticking his funny mask and impractical sword under an arm before moving closer to Shiro.

Keith watched Lance see him and do a double take before his expression faltered.

Keith didn’t know what kind of expression was on his own face, but he could imagine it was frustrated and confused.

Shiro turned and smiled, saying nothing.

The three of them stood in silence – Keith taking the time to examine the weapons on the wall and in their hands.

It was Keith who finally broke the silence, crossing his arms over his chest, “So, why are the swords so tiny?” He met Shiro’s gaze and witnessed mirth encompass his face. _Great_ , Keith thought, _I said something wrong_. His expression automatically fell into a glare – not at all a pout – and turned to Lance, only to see him rolling on the floor and clutching his stomach. At that sight, Keith soured even more.

 _“What?”_ He grumbled, “That’s what they are? Weird looking swords!”

“Nothing.” Shiro said, inflection indicating that it was, indeed, _something._ “That’s just the same thing I said when I first saw it.” He lifted it up to look at it, before pointing it directly at Keith. He then gave it a small toss and caught it by the tip, the entire blade flexing with the weight of the grip before wobbling up and down. It stilled, slightly bent.

Keith refused to move from his spot in the doorway. “Why is he laughing so hard?” His right eye twitched slightly. “I just asked a question.”

Lance managed to stand up and brush himself off, gaining composure quickly. “Ok, I admit,” He shook his head and let out a smaller chuckle, “It’s wasn’t cool to laugh. You don’t know. Anyway, this isn’t a sword, it’s a _foil._ ”

Keith looked to Shiro, who beckoned him forward with another sight movement of the sword – err, foil.

Keith hesitated for another few moments before taking careful steps into the room. He reached out suspiciously and, after a moment, took the foil from Shiro.

Lance was talking – explaining something, probably – but Keith was more focused on how light the foil was in his hand. It was outrageous, easily five times as light as a regular sword, and Keith’s frown deepened.

“It’s not for fighting.” Lance’s soft voice brought Keith out of his own thoughts and he looked up curiously.

“If… There’s no purpose… Why…” His eyebrows pulled in in confusion as he tried to understand, “What is it _for?_ ”

“It’s kind of a game.” Keith’s eyes darted to his brother, who was looking at the ceiling and rubbing his neck. “Basically, you try to score the most points.”

Before Keith could process that, Lance jumped in, “Yeah you poke your opponent with the end-” Keith felt a jab at his abdomen and looked down to find that the tip of Lance’s foil was pressing against his stomach, “And try not to get hit yourself. It’s pretty simple, but there are a bunch of other rules. Like, you can’t go out of the piste and you can only get a point by poking the torso.”

Keith shook his head and tried handing the foil back to Shiro, “Doesn’t sound exciting. Anyway, Shiro-”

“WHAT?!”

Keith flinched, audio automatically dropping no almost nothing before slowly turning itself back up to listen to Lance chew him out.

“How could you say _fencing_ is _boring?_ ”

“I didn’t-”

“Fencing is an _art!_ Maybe it’s boring because you know you could never be any good at it!”

“I could! I just don’t want to! There is no reason to do it! It has no benefit!” Keith crossed his arms over his chest tightly before turning to Shiro, “Shiro? Shiro where are you going? Tell him that I would be _great_ at – what was it called? Fencer? – but there is no reason for me to do it! Shiro!”

Shiro waved benevolently with a kind look on his face as he took careful steps backwards, away from the two princes, before sprinting from the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

Both Keith and Lance huffed and eyed one another.

Suddenly Lance prodded him again with the tip of his foil and broke out into a smirk, “First point.”

Keith scoffed and knocked the foil to the side. He shook his head and began to turn around before immediately stumbling back and bringing up the foil in his own hand to clumsily deflect Lance’s next move.

Shocked, Keith quickly looked to Lance’s face. The smirk was wider now and Lance leaned closer before tauntingly whispering, “En guarde.”

He had no idea what those words meant, but Lance’s tone and infuriating smirk had his blood boiling and he growled, shoving the other man away.

It took a few moments, but Keith adjusted to the foil in his hand and immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Fleetingly, he noticed Lance turn sideways and advance.

He refused to turn sideways, but begrudgingly admitted to himself that the sideways stance made it harder to land hits to the chest. It took only moments to understand that fencer used more of a prodding motion, rather than the powerful swipes he was accustomed to, and his frown deepened as he concentrated on scoring at least _one_ point. Lance seemed to only know how to gain ground, and Keith seemed to only know how to lose it.

Ducking and rolling to the side did nothing in his favor, as Lance pivoted and switched foil hands each time. He was good, Keith could admit that, but he was infuriating about it. He just kept grinning and _winking._

Once, Keith tried to land a hit, but Lance parried it easily, causing Keith to fumble and almost dropped the foil. His heart clenched as he scrambled to correct his grip, dropping to the floor to prevent Lance landing another prod.

Lance had landed seven points before Keith managed to land his first.

Surprised, Keith grinned and let out a laugh, practically dropping his guard. It costed him another point.

\--

After a while Lance stopped, a grin on his face – Keith couldn’t remember how many Lance had landed, losing count after 30 – and cocked a hip, “Alright, I admit it. You’re pretty good for a newbie.”

Keith panted, watching Lance suspiciously. He didn’t drop his guard, but he dropped the foil a few inches.

“Don’t get me wrong, you would suck at fencing-” Guess it wasn’t fencer, “until you got a few lessons. Your form is the worst I’ve ever seen, though I have a sneaking suspicion you were doing that on purpose? Whatever. You’re lucky it was me sparring against you and not my sister. She’s _ruthless!”_ He laughed and reached forward to take Keith’s foil – leaving him defenseless – before strutting off to the wall at the back of the room to put the foils away.

Keith’s eyebrows shot up at Lance’s accusation, “Allura? Ruthless?” all he could do was parrot what was said to him, trying and failing to picture the crown princess as _ruthless_ , of all words.

“Oh no you don’t, lover-boy.” Lance was suddenly in Keith’s face, wagging a finger, “She is happily betrothed to your _brother._ There will be none of that.”

“None of what?” Keith titled his head a bit to the side, puzzled at the sudden change in atmosphere. “Wait, do you think I have a crush on your sister? She’s beautiful, but no. Listen… I can’t picture Allura as anything other than sweet and innocent? Her being ruthless doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Lance frowned, “Ok, first of all? Don’t let her hear you say anything like that. She’d disconnect your arm from its socket and beat you with it.” He suddenly shivered before grinning, “Anyway, I’m going to go see Blue, are you coming?”

“Why would I?”

“To see your dragon, of course?” Lance raised an eyebrow, “Blue said she’s with her.”

Raising a hand, Keith tried to process what was happening, “Hold on… Your… ‘Blue’… Is the blue dragon? I thought you were talking about a dog or a horse or something.” he felt his own eyebrows twitch, “The _blue dragon?_ Red’s _mate?_ She chose _you?_ Hold on, why do you call her _Blue?”_ The new information was a bit tricky for Keith to process, being caught in a loop of _Red’s mate chose Lance_ and how their fates were now intertwined.

His heart wasn’t pumping, it couldn’t be. It felt hard and cold in his chest, anxiety swarming over his senses as he tried to process _just what the hell was going on._ Contrary to what he was feeling, his statistics were completely normal.

He was abruptly brought back to the present situation as Lance started talking.

Lance crossed his arms and glared, “Uh, yeah? Why is that so unbelievable? You aren’t the only one that dragons choose, you know!”

“No, I know that.” Keith grunted dismissively, still half-focused on figuring out how the childish prince in front of him had appealed to _the blue dragon_. She hadn’t bonded with a human in _generations_. What made Lance so special? “But why _you?_ You insulted dragon-kind just yesterday. And why Red’s _mate_ of all dragons?”

“I _apologized_ for that! I didn’t know! I had never met a dragon before!”

Keith frowned again before shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips, ready to drop it, figuring he wouldn’t get any answer from this guy, “Why ‘Blue’? You haven’t answered that.”

Lance’s hands were immediately in the air, “How are you going to ask me that? You call your dragon ‘Red’!”

Without thought, Keith crossed his arms and turned a bit away, “I was three when she chose me. You’re twenty. Meaning you have the creativity of a child.”

“I’ll show you a child’s creativity!” Lance shouted, advancing.

Turning right back, Keith also took a step forward, “That doesn’t even make any sense!”

The moment stretched on, somehow turning into a staring contest between the two of them. It was a rather intense staring contest – their foreheads were grinding roughly against each other. Keith noticed tears welling in Lance’s eyes and smirked slightly.

“What are you laughing at, Mullet?” Lance growled through gritted teeth, pushing forward more, trying to knock Keith off balance, probably, but Keith stayed still as a statue.

“I’m laughing because you’re about to blink and lose.” Keith stated confidently.

“I will never blink!” Lance frowned and pushed harder, knocking Keith back a step. The infuriatingly smug look that crossed Lance’s face had Keith pushing back harder.

Lance took four steps back and glowered, trying to push Keith back again. It was Keith’s turn to have a smug look.

So wrapped up with staring into Lance’s impossibly blue eyes, Keith almost didn’t register the _pat, pat, pat_ of Pidge’s shoes as they walked into the room.

“Girls, girls, you’re both beautiful. Stop bickering.” Pidge pushed between them, “Keith I need-”

“Fucking gremlin! When did you get here?” Lance exclaimed, positively startled before bending at the waist to observe Pidge as if they were an alien.

Pidge and Keith both ignored him, “Keith, I need you to go to the market for me. I have a list of what I need – here.”

He looked at the piece of paper that was suddenly thrust into his hands and observed it for all of two seconds before turning to Pidge with a blank look. “I can’t understand this chicken scratch.” His voice was deadpan and he tried to hand it back to be rewritten.

“Make do.” They snapped and turned to Lance, moving to start ushering him out of the room, “Allura wants your opinion on something for the ball? I don’t know what it is but she told me to find you.”

“Pidge!” Keith waved the paper, “I don’t know where the market is! I’ve only been in Altea a day! Pidge! Pidge?”

“Figure it out, hotshot.” They called back before turning the corner with Lance.

Keith huffed and looked down at the paper, squinting and bring the paper closer to his face, trying to decipher Pidge’s terrible handwriting.

\--

It took a rather long time, but Keith managed to figure out a few of the words and groaned. He pouted and stuffed the paper into his pocket before making his way out of the castle – detouring to his room to grab his jacket and dagger. He used the servant stairs to avoid being seen, of course. He didn’t need anyone following or asking questions and delay his mission.

It wasn’t difficult to find the bazaar, considering it was almost directly outside of the castle walls, and Keith made himself blend seamlessly into the crowd.

If this bazaar was anything like the one back home, machinery parts – specifically cyborg and drone parts – would be in the furthest corner. He steeled himself before walking toward the back.

Hopefully, he wasn’t going to be in the market for more than an hour.

Keith strolled along the aisles, pretending to just look around, before walking up to one of the vendor’s stalls. Looking down at the bits of metal and machinery on the table in front of him, he easily picked out the bits that were wildly outdated. There was a bunch of junk and he almost groaned before he spotted something tucked under a child-sized prosthetic finger. Seemingly uncaring, he reached under the finger and picked up a small square of metal. Pidge’s list _did_ say programming chip, right?

“Oh, young man, please don’t touch if you aren’t willing to buy. I can’t have the risk of my equipment being carelessly broken.” The voice was rough, and a bit on the nasal side. It was the voice of a greedy rip-off and it irritated Keith immensely, though he refused to let it show.

Keith looked up from the chip, studied the vendor for a half a second before returning his gaze to the metal in his hand, “I’ll give you 15,000 flaq for this.” He said halfheartedly, palming the chip and straightening his stance.

The vendor’s face pinked slightly as a look of disgust crossed his face and he tried to stand taller as well, “I assure you, cyborg, that chip is worth more than 40,000 flaq. How dare you try to rip me off? I will not hesitate to call the… guards… Prince Takashi! At my stall! Goodness, me. W-what do I owe this honor?”

Keith forced himself not to sigh or roll his eyes as he felt his brother’s hand land on his shoulder, squeezing gently. He also remained quiet as Shiro spoke up, perfectly kind to the rip-off vendor.

“Good afternoon,” Keith could practically see the trademarked Shiro smile that accompanied that cheery voice, and he wanted to gag, “I hope my friend, here, hasn’t been giving you any sort of trouble?”

Before Keith could open his mouth and defend himself, the vendor tripped over himself to have the first word, “O-of course not! He’s been the perfect gentleman! In fact, I was just about to sell him this remarkable programming chip for only 8,000 flaq – a steal! – and I was even going to throw in this fully functional drone!”

Keith’s brows pulled in at the vendor’s ass kissing, though didn’t say anything. The side of his mouth pulled in at the sight of a drone shaped like a pyramid floating through the air, stopping next to Keith’s head obediently. The young prince took a few minutes to observe it before looking back to the fiasco in front of him.

Keith stood in confusion as Shiro pulled out his own wallet and all but forced 10,000 flaq into the vendor’s reluctant hands, insisting that 8,000 was too cheap for the added drone.

He could see the repressed anger in the vendors eyes, though the man was cheery and tried to refuse Shiro’s money. Shiro continued to insist and, after the vendor finally accepted the money, Shiro steered Keith away from the bazaar and back towards the castle. The drone followed quietly.

\--

With every intention of _not_ getting chewed out, Keith tried to fast-walk to the castle doors. He was stopped, however, when Shiro grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around.

“Keith.” His voice was firm and Keith’s body sagged, waiting for the now inevitable lecture. “Why would you go out of the castle by yourself? You could have been hurt! What were you thinking?”

“Pidge just needed me to get some stuff, I didn’t think it was a bit deal. How did you even find me?” He tried to brush off both Shiro’s hand and his worry, though failed in both.

The hand on his shoulder tightened considerably, forcing Keith to look up at his brother’s face. “Of course, it’s a big deal, Keith!” Shiro all but shouted, taking Keith by surprise, “This isn’t home, Keith! People don’t know you here, and you’re dressed like a commoner! What if you had gotten killed? Captured to be sold on the black market?”

“I didn’t-” Keith felt a lump in his throat and he knew that if he could have, he would have tears welling in his eyes. The thoughts hadn’t even crossed his mind. Did people really do that? Just take people off the streets and sell them like parts?

Shiro sighed and rubbed his temple with his free hand, “I know. I know you don’t know. But Keith, you aren’t a child-”

His words were cut off in surprise as Keith slapped his hand away, fury welling up in his gut at being patronized, “I hate to break it to you, Shiro, but I am.” Keith snapped, hating himself for the look starting to cross Shiro’s face, but continuing nonetheless, “I mean, not physically, but- I’m a…” He stumbled over his words, confusing himself for a minute before shaking his head and getting to the root of what he was trying to say, “I don’t know the things about the world that you do. I didn’t know people could be as cruel as you say they are.” The fight left him almost immediately, and he reached forward to lay his hand on his older brother’s shoulder, “I may be ignorant about some things, but I know how to take care of myself, Shiro.” He ended quietly, begging with his eyes for his brother to understand what he couldn’t say with words.

Shiro stared at him for a few minutes, shocked at Keith’s outburst, and Keith could see him finally seeing him as more than the sickly pipsqueak he used to be.

Suddenly tears welled up in Shiro’s eyes, startling Keith, “Takashi! Why are you crying? Stop crying, please? I’m sorry!”

Shiro laughed and wiped at his eyes, “Don’t apologize,” He shook his head and reached out to ruffle Keith’s hair, “It’s just hard to think of you as anything other than the sickly little boy wearing himself out trying to follow me everywhere.”

“I didn’t try to follow you _everywhere.”_ Keith grunted, trying to frown, but unable to keep a small smile from his face. Still worried about Shiro’s tears, Keith shuffled forward and opened his arms.

Shiro immediately accepted the invitation and pulled Keith into a bone-crushing hug. “I almost lost you once, Keith.” He whispered, and Keith froze, “I don’t want to go through that again.”

“I’m sorry for making you worry.” Keith mumbled, giving his brother a squeeze before letting go and pulling back. Feeling more than awkward, he reached up to run his hand over the nape of his neck and looked away, to the sky. “Do you wanna go for a ride or something?”

Shiro looked up, probably going over his mental itinerary, before grinning, “Yeah I’ve got time. C’mon I’ll show you the makeshift stables.”

“Makeshift?” Keith let out a short laugh, “What does that mean?”

When Keith turned, he eyes landed on the drone he had forgotten about and let out a dramatic groan, “I gotta give this thing to Pidge. Do you know where they are?”

Shiro shrugged, “They were with Lance and Allura last I saw?”

He let out an impolite groan and started trudging to the castle doors, Shiro walking beside him cheerily.

“Something wrong?” When Keith looked up, he saw a smirk on his brother’s face and a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, no. Nope. Nothing is wrong. Not a thing. Everything is great. Stellar. Fantastic. Awesome. Good.”

“Keith.”

With a deep breath, Keith stood up taller and immediately started going off, “He’s so annoying! And he’s just a grade-A dick! Like, you left us earlier and do you know what he did? Do you know? He _attacked_ me!”

Shiro looked positively taken aback and looked directly at Keith, “He did what?”

Keith held up his hand with a small sigh, “Shiro, don’t interrupt me.” With Shiro’s tense nod, Keith continued, “I defended myself, of course, but he chased me around the room with that teeny sword like a mad man! And then like, after an _hour_ he just _stopped?_ And then he said I suck at fencer – err, fencing? – which, I mean. Yeah, is probably true, but come on? Who even says that? I could easily defeat him in _anything else!_ Honestly, what is his problem? He’s such a douchebag! And why did the blue dragon choose him? _Him,_ Shiro! Apparently, she doesn’t care about _me_! Well, I mean, she doesn’t necessarily _have to_ care about me because she didn’t choose _me,_ but still! She’s Red’s _mate_! That means that I’m going to have to see him more often than just this trip! Mates can’t be separated, you know. It’s just annoying.” Keith huffed and rubbed his face, “And he just thinks he’s better than everyone because he’s pretty and because he has an amazing smile and gorgeous eyes, but he’s _not!_ And he won’t stop calling me ‘Mullet’ which I don’t even understand because I _don’t_ have a _mullet!”_

Keith looked up to Shiro like a lost puppy, only to glare at the smug look plastered over his older brother’s face. The cheeky smile was annoying, and the way he was looking at Keith was uncomfortable. “What?” He snapped.

“It sounds like you like him.” Shiro shoved his hands into his pockets.

Keith’s face screwed up in annoyance, “Uh, no I don’t? Weren’t you listening? He’s annoying.”

“I thought Allura was annoying, too, the first time I met her.” Shiro shrugged. At Keith’s look of utter confusion, he elaborated, “She tried too hard to get me to think she was nice. Also, she was kinda stalkerish. Everywhere I went, she was there asking if I liked the castle and what I thought about Altea.”

“Allura?” Keith shook his head in disbelief, “No, no. I remember you telling me about her. You never said anything negative about her.”

Shiro stopped and turned to face him, “Of course I would never say anything bad about her! She’s older than me and she’s the heir to a nation.”

“You… Do know that… You are also the heir to a nation, right?”

“Why, no I didn’t. Thanks for letting me know.” His voice was loaded to the brim with sarcasm and he quickly pulled Keith into a headlock, “Smartass.”

They struggled for a few moments before Keith managed to break free. They began walking again, Keith keeping his entire focus on his other brother’s story.

“I dunno, though.” Shiro continued, “It was really weird. I wasn’t used to how loud and fast Altea is. Honestly I was just preoccupied worrying about you back home.” They both paused for a minute and Shiro took a deep breath before adding quietly, “Lance was running around, getting into trouble, and making messes and I was envious for a long time because you _weren’t_. I tried to ignore the feeling but it always itched at the back of my mind. I took it out on Lance once. You drew me a picture of us and mom and dad and I brought it with me, do you remember? He went into my room and accidentally tore it.” Shiro rubbed his neck, stopping again, “I knew it was an accident, but I just… I didn’t know if it was going to be the last thing you would make. I got mad and I shoved him and started yelling at him. When Allura found out-”

“I gave him a black eye.” An amused voice said from behind Keith, startling him so much he almost fell over.

Ignoring the warning flashing over his vision telling him his heart beat had increased at an alarming rate, Keith looked back and forth between Pidge, Lance, and Allura standing in the doorway of Allura’s bedroom. How had they gotten there so fast? Quickly and without a word, Keith handed the chip and the drone over to Pidge.

“You gave me a bit more than a black eye.” Shiro laughed before nudging Keith’s shoulder, “She beat me to a pulp and the she lectured me for two hours-”

“It was _not_ two hours!” Allura interrupted incredulously.

“ _Two hours_ I was lectured on how to behave around children and how Lance didn’t mean to rip it.” Shiro continued, smiling.

Keith’s eyes darted between the two of them with a joyful smile on his face.

Lance shifted uncomfortably and suddenly spoke up, needing to get his word in on the story, “I didn’t know it was special to you, Shiro.”

“I know, Lance.” Shiro moved toward Allura, ruffling Lance’s hair on the way. “Anyway, it was then that I stopped seeing her as an annoying brat and I started to fall-” He stopped, face pinched as he tried not to blush.

Allura lifted an eyebrow at him knowingly and crossed her arms.

Keith also crossed his arms and smirked, “What was the end of that sentence, Takashi?”

Shiro’s face turned brighter than an apple and he coughed, looking away from the three of them.

“And that is the cue for this mechanic to leave.” Pidge grumbled with a sneer on their face as they started walking down the hallway, the drone happily following them. “Keith, come see me in the morning.”

Allura gave a small wave to Pidge’s retreating back before taking pity on Shiro by turning back to Keith and Lance, “We got closer over the next few years and Shiro opened up to me about your situation, Keith.”

“You didn’t know before?” Keith asked curiously, tilting his head a bit, “Wait, how didn’t you know?”

She rubbed her arm with the opposite hand and looked to Shiro, who still seemed to be trying to control his flush, “Well, to be honest, we hadn’t held a conversation before that. And the way he acted with Lance, it seemed like he was just a spoiled, only child.”

Throwing his hands in the air, Lance interjected with a touch of confusion, “Wait, how did he act around me? I only have good memories! Shiro was the wicked cool older brother who let me get away with murder!”

“You murdered someone?” Keith snapped – more out of fear and surprise than anger – as he turned his head quick as a whip to look at Lance. As soon as he said it he realized it wasn’t meant that way, and felt a bit silly.

“Of course _not,_ mullet-head!” Lance snapped back, glaring at Keith before rolling his eyes, “It’s an expression! I bet he let you get away with everything, too, so don’t try to act all high and mighty!”

Keith recoiled and looked to Shiro and Allura for guidance, confusion plain as day on his face. Did he honestly not know? It seemed that everyone else did.

They both had wary looks on their faces, unknowing on whether to jump in and change the subject or to let the scene play out on its own.

“Oh, no you don’t!” The growled sentence had Keith’s gaze snapping back to Lance immediately. He was much too close for Keith’s comfort and Keith tried, in vain, to put space between them. “They aren’t going to help you! You look at me and answer the question!” Lance started prodding him in the chest, leaning further into his personal space, “What kind of stuff did you get away with when you were a kid, huh?”

Keith looked at Lance wide-eyed before trying to see Shiro over Lance’s shoulder, “I, uh… I didn’t…”

“Lance.” Allura said quietly, apparently decided to cut in and help Keith, “You don’t know the whole story.”

“What story, Allura?” His voice was almost annoyed, and he kept his gaze trained on Keith.

“It’s ok, Allura,” Keith’s own voice was quiet and raspy and he cleared it before shoving his hands in his pockets, faking nonchalance even though he felt like his legs were going to give out at any moment. “He’s going to feel like an ass when he hears it.”

Lance’s face darkened while simultaneously turning red, “You don’t know anything about me!” He shouted, poking Keith’s chest again.

“I know more about you than you know about me.” Keith stated coolly, fed up with the poking and the prodding and Lance stealing all the air in the room from being too close. For now, he didn’t want Lance to go away and drop the subject. He wanted Lance to find out, to realize he was being a jerk for no good reason, “To answer your question, I didn’t do anything wild or reckless as a child. The craziest thing I did? I tried to sneak onto the plane taking Shiro to Altea when I was thirteen. I barely made it down the hall before Shiro forced me back to my room.”

“Wow, you were boring. What? Didn’t know how to work your robot legs yet?”

Keith bristled, but kept his mouth shut about it and turned back to Allura and took a deep breath, “I’m sorry Allura, I interrupted. Please continue the story.”

“I don’t remember where I left off.” She said cautiously, looking up to Shiro for help, though he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Keith.

“You and Shiro were bonding, I think.” Helpful as always, Keith was.

“Ah, yes.” She still sounded reserved, but she sighed and proceeded, “Lance, pay attention.” Allura snapped at her younger brother before closing her eyes and sighing again and turning to walk into her room, “I suggest we all sit down for this next part. Come in.”

Allura sat on her bed, Lance sat at the vanity, and Shiro on the floor next to Allura.

Keith, himself, leaned against the wall and crossed his arms tightly, the leather on his jacket biting the inner parts of his arms. “Just to, uh, get a,” Keith waved one hand around as he tried to find the right word, “Time table? I guess? Like,” He crossed his arms again, “When did Shiro start talking about… Me?”

Lance huffed and popped his chin in his hand, resting his elbow on his knee before rolling his eyes again.

Allura gave Lance _a look_ before turning back to Keith, “I think it was when you were about fifteen, right Shiro?”

He shook his head, “Fourteen. He was still a little lucid when you met.”

“Ah, yes, then. You and Lance were fourteen each. Lance, this is when you were in your ‘artistic’ phase. I think it was when you were learning guitar?” Lance shrugged in acknowledgement, “Shiro started telling me about you, Keith, a few months before we met.”

Keith frowned shaking his head, “I know I’m interrupting again, but, I just… Don’t remember meeting you that long ago?”

Allura sighed and brushed her palm over her hair – as if any piece was ever out of place – before giving him a wan smile, “I understand. It seemed you only woke for your mother or Shiro.” He shrugged a shoulder halfheartedly, “Hearing how Shiro described you for months, I came to love you as if you were my own brother.”

A scoff interrupted the tender moment and three pairs of eyes turned to the vanity, where Lance was shaking his head, “So you had never met the kid and you loved him like he was your brother. Right.” If Keith hadn’t known any better, he would say Lance was pouting. But because he did know better, he knew Lance was just being rude.

“I read to you.” Allura continued, turning back to Keith without a word about Lance’s behavior. “I can’t recall the name of the book, but I do remember a knight being the main character. The entire book was a wild adventure and I loved it.”

Keith stood shocked, the memory of a soft voice reading to him almost knocking him off balance, “I remember that!”

Allura flinched at Keith’s sudden shout and the young prince flushed in embarrassment.

“I mean, I remember being read to. I thought it had been a dream.”

Allura brightened, then slumped once more, “You flatlined at the climax of the book.” Her hand reached down to Shiro’s, “I was worried it was my doing and I left shortly after the doctors revived you. I didn’t finish reading that book to you until almost six months after that. You were already comatose.”

His mouth pulled to one side and he started to chew on his lips, “I thought that the meeting a few years ago was the first time we had met. I’m sorry for not remembering.”

“No need to apologize,” She smiled kindly at him.

It was quiet in the room for a few moments before Lance stood up, aggressively putting his hands on his hips, “I still don’t understand? Keith was in a _coma?_ He _flatlined?_ ”

“A few times before he was induced, yeah.” Shiro’s voice was quiet and Keith could tell he was far away.

“But… He’s a robot-”

“I’m a cyborg!”

“Whatever, I’ve heard it both ways.” Lance waved his hand in Keith’s direction, keeping his attention on Allura and Shiro, “Anyway, how could he flatline if he’s a _cyborg?_ Isn’t his heart programmed to prevent that?”

“I mean, yeah, I have programming to alert me of potentially harmful factors in my health _now_ , but I wasn’t always a cyborg. I was completely human once.”

Shocked, Lance turned to face Keith with his mouth open. He blundered for a few moments before standing straight and crossing his own arms, “Ok, but that doesn’t explain _anything!_ Why would you choose to be a cyborg? Why were you apparently always asleep? I feel like I’m only getting part of the picture here!”

Keith pushed off the wall and dropped his hands to his sides.

He shuffled his feet to redistribute his weight.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and opened his mouth to answer the question, but stopped and frowned in irritation.

Finally, he reached up with his left hand and pulled at his right earlobe, looking back to the ground as he gave the carpet under his boots a half-heated nudge.

“I had blood cancer. After being untreated for a few years, I also developed aggressive bone cancer. I was somewhere between living and dying for a very long time.” He looked up to see Lance’s face as pale as a ghost. Keith could tell that Lance was staring to realize that he _had_ been being an asshole for no reason, though it didn’t give him the satisfaction he had thought it would.

He dropped his hand from his ear and shoved his hands back into his pockets, “Pidge saved my life.” His voice was small as he tried to fill the awkward silence. Suddenly he frowned, “No, that’s not right… They gave me a chance to live.”

Lance reached up and wiped his hand over his mouth, “I’m sorry.” He whispered before hurrying out of the room.

Keith felt a wave of serenity crash over him and his legs buckled. He dropped gracelessly to the floor and took a deep breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for your comments, kudos, and bookmarks! I couldn't do it without you!  
> Yeah, updates _should_ be every two to three weeks!
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	3. Well, that happened.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How long do you think it’ll take Pidge to surgically remove the stick from your ass?”
> 
> “Watch your fucking language.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to note that the very beginning of this chapter is an anxiety attack, so If you want to skip that you can control+f to _The warning that had refused to disappear stopped flashing._
> 
> Once more thank you for comments, kudos, and bookmarks!

Suddenly the wave of serenity crashed and drowned Keith in worry. His fingers tingled and his skin itched. His mouth went dry as if he had sucked on a cotton ball.

Lurching forward, he dropped his head between his knees, and tried to calm himself down. _Why did I say that? Why didn’t I just let it go? Why did I have to do that? Allura tried to warn me! Why didn’t I listen? Why? Why? Why?_

He felt Red stir over his mind, restless from his panic, and hastily pushed her away and blocked her from his mind.

Immediately he regretted it – the cold emptiness of being truly alone – and once more opened his mind to her. The warmth of Red in his mind calmed him slightly, but it did nothing to prevent his vision from blurring and fading around the edges.

His eyes closed and he wrapped his arms over his head, hands flexing over his shoulders as he tried to ground himself. He couldn’t think, couldn’t understand what Red was trying to say to him.

His heart was beating too fast and too hard. **_Thumpthumpthumpthump_** , it was pounding in his ears, drowning out reality and leaving him in some kind of limbo. Something was going to go flying if he didn’t hold himself together, so he curled into an even tighter ball, digging his fingernails into the leather of his jacket until he felt the bite of pinching his skin between his fingers and the jacket.

He was having a heart attack, he realized. He was going to die on the floor of Allura’s room.

He couldn’t dismiss the red warning flashing over his vision: SLIGHTLY ELEVATED HEART RATE. But it was _wrong._ His heart rate wasn’t _slightly elevated._ He could _feel_ his ribcage shaking with the intensity. His muscles were quivering in his arms. His lungs weren’t working. He was _dying_ and his sensors were _malfunctioning._ He was going to fall apart. His lungs were going to pop, his heart was going to explode, and his ribs were going to break.

Not even Pidge would be able to put him back together.

 _Breathe, my love_. Her voice was a soft whisper in the chaos of his mind. _Breathe deep and feel my presence within you. I am here with you, Keith._

He forced his lung muscles to move - unable to tell if he was sucking air in or shoving it out, but knowing it was progress.

_He hates me, everyone hates me. They all pity me. Why am I here? What am I doing? I should have died. Why did they save me? I don’t belong here-_

_Breathe._

Red’s voice was strong and commanding. Instinctually, Keith sucked in air and curled tighter around himself, fingernails digging even harder into his jacket.

Absently he felt pinpricks against the nape of his neck, where his hair had gotten caught in his fists.

He could hear Red’s body moving against itself in his mind. He could see her coil around him. He could feel the heat that radiated from her.

After what felt like forever, he managed to draw a calming breath into his lungs and settle his heart rate.

The warning that had refused to disappear stopped flashing. A brilliant green took over the red as the words changed: HEART RATE RETURNING TO NORMAL. ALL SCANS SHOW – Keith finally managed to dismiss the message and his body sagged with the next breath he let out.

As he lifted his head from between his knees, he ran his hands up over the back of his head to his face before pushing his fingers into his bangs, covering his eyes with his palms.

Unsurprisingly, his face was soaked.

 _Feeling better?_ Red’s voice once more whispered across his mind and the smallest of smirks pulled at his lips.

_Much better. Thank you._

A pleased noise echoed in his mind.

 _Are you up for a ride?_ He asked cautiously.

_Always, my love._

“Keith?” Allura’s soft voice was close to his head and he felt her hand move over his back in a calming circle, “Are you alright? You’ve been gasping for a few minutes.”

“I’m fine. Thank you, Princess.” He paused before trying to nonchalantly wipe the tears and snot off of his face, “Where’s Shiro? We were supposed to go for a ride.” Keeping his gaze off Allura next to him, Keith looked around the room only to find that they were the only ones there, “And I… Don’t exactly know where the dragons are.”

The silence that followed Keith’s voice was awkward enough that he found himself turning around, hesitating before lifting his eyes, and looking at Allura’s face.

She still had a hand rubbing circles on his back, but there were tears in her eyes, starting to fall down her cheeks, “I am so sorry, Keith!”

Startled, Keith continued to look at her cautiously, “I… Forgive you?”

Suddenly, her arms were going around his neck and she was hugging him. He sat still for a few moments before patting her back, confused. “Allura, really, I’m fine.” It took tremendous effort to prevent his face from frowning, but he was just… _So_ confused…

After another minute, Allura still wrapped around him with her head on his chest, Keith gave her a few more pats, “Are _you_ ok?”

At that, she pulled away and gave a choked chuckle before carefully wiping under her eyes, “I’m fine.” Her voice was softer than before, almost nonexistent.

They stared at each other for a few more moments before Allura opened her mouth again, “Keith-”

“Allura, _please_ don’t apologize again.” Keith interjected, hand shooting to the space between them, “You did nothing wrong. _I_ was the one who pushed it.”

Keith had startled her a bit, but she chuckled and gently pushed his hand back down, “I was going to tell you where your brother went.” Her smile grew as he flushed in embarrassment. “He ran after Lance, right before you started-”

“So he didn’t see that?” Keith quickly interrupted her again. At Allura’s confused shake of her head, he reached forward and took her hands, “Could you please not tell him? He worries too much and he just… Doesn’t need to know about this…” He sighed, dropping his eyes, and felt her squeeze his fingers.

“I won’t mention it to him.” she finally said, though lowered her head to catch his eye. Once she had eye contact she continued, “Keith, are you _really_ ok?”

He took his hands back to run them through his hair, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling. He took a moment to truly think about the question. Letting out a breath, he nodded, “Yeah, I’m ok. A little worked up, but I’ll be fine.” He scraped his fingers against his scalp and returned his gaze to hers before smiling a bit, “Thank you.”

She reached forward and cupped his cheek, rubbing her finger over his cheek bone, “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me, ok?” He nodded, then she nodded and dropped her hand to stand up.

After he took her offered hand, Allura jerked Keith to a stand, startling him.

“I’m going to go find Shiro.” He tilted his head toward the door as he started walking backward, “Thank you, again.”

\--

As it turned out, he only had to go down a flight of stairs before he started to hear Shiro’s voice.

Cautiously, he turned the corner and saw Lance leaning against a wall, arms crossed, and Shiro leaning against the wall next to him.

It was Shiro who saw him first, and he pulled himself off the wall, a frown coming over his face, “Keith?” Suddenly he stopped and his brows pulled together tightly, “Were you crying?”

It took everything he had not to reach up and wipe his face, but he couldn’t stop himself from picking at a loose string on the side of his pants, “No.”

Shiro continued to stare at him for a few more minutes, but Keith forced himself to keep eye contact and soon enough, his brother sighed at looked back at Lance. Lace was looking at the floor with his lips pursed.

“I asked Lance to join us on our ride. Is that ok with you, Keith?” The way he asked insinuated there was only one correct answer, so Keith shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

“Yeah it’s fine. But me and him need to straighten some shit out first.” He had turned his attention to Lance, who looked up through his lashes back at Keith.

“Keith. Language.” Shiro’s voice was stern, but Keith ignored him.

Lance shrugged and stood up straight, “Ok. What’s up?”

Keith stared at him, brow twitching over his eye, wondering what was the best way to word what he wanted to say. He shuffled his feet before pulling his shoulders back, “Why have you been acting so messed up towards me?”

Lance’s face dropped into a glare and stomped forward until his was toe-to-toe with Keith, “Why have _you_ been acting so messed up towards _me_?”

Keith recoiled, completely confused, “I haven’t!”

“Keith.” Shiro interjected again, and Keith looked over Lance’s shoulder to his brother, who was standing with his arms crossed. He motioned his head to the side, towards Lance.

He sighed and returned his gaze to Lance, “Fine. You first, though.”

Lance dropped his hostility and his arms, starting to tap his fingers against his thigh, now unwilling to meet Keith’s eye, “I don’t know.” Keith snorted, unbelieving, and Lance tensed before gritting his teeth and continuing. “I don’t know, I guess I was just, like… _Intimidated_ by you or something.”

Keith frowned, “Why would you be intimidated by _me_?”

Lance huffed and looked directly at Keith, “You’re just, like… _You!_ Everyone loves you! And you’re like good at everything! Without even trying! It’s infuriating! I don’t know how to act around you!” Lance’s hands suddenly flew out to the side, “It’s like everything I say is the wrong thing to say? You just hate me or something, I don’t know.”

Keith took his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms, still unable to process that Lance was intimidated by him and instead focusing on the second part of Lance’s confession, “You say a lot of shit, Lance, and with everything you say, I feel like, “This guy is _really_ hurting me.” And it _hurt_!”

Lance dropped his hands to shove them in his pockets and shrug. He glanced up for a small moment before dropping his gaze again and speaking with a quiet voice, “Yeah, well when you ignored and then yelled at me the first time we met? That really hurt too.”

Keith paused, realized he had been being more irritable than he had thought, and kicked the carpet before the confession fell from his lips, “I guess I was a little threatened too.” At Lance’s confused look, he continued with a sigh, “You’re _Prince Lance_ of Altea. Your name and face is _everywhere_. _Everyone_ knows who you are! You play guitar and you fence and you paint and you even _cook_! You’re loved by everyone. I’m just… Me.” His voice had gotten to almost a broken whisper, “I’ve never been the center of attention and now everyone’s forgotten who I am. I can’t compete with you. And then, like, you’ve been _hostile_ to me this whole time! You keep making botphobic remarks and it just… Feels like you _hate_ me because I’m a cyborg.” He sighed and looked down.

“I’m sorry.” Lance said quietly, chewing his lip, “I don’t hate you… I just don’t know how to act around you. I guess I was… Trying to show off. To make you like me.” He shrugged.

“You don’t have to do that. Just be yourself.” Keith muttered.

Lance huffed a laugh, causing Keith to look up at him, and he opened his arms for a hug, “Truce?”

Keith shrugged and stepped forward, giving the other man a quick hug before pulling away and running his hand through his hair, “Yeah, truce.”

“Dude.” Lance rolled his eyes, “that was a weak ass hug.”

“Lance! Language!” Shiro interjected once more.

Once more they both ignored him. “Fuck you.” Keith grinned. His grin was immediately wiped away as Lance jerked him into a stronger, longer hug. Suddenly the hug turned into a brawl and Lance jerked his arm around Keith’s neck and started rubbing his knuckles into Keith’s skull. “No, _stop_! Oh my _Gods_! Stop touching me! _Lance_!”

“Alright you two.” Shiro’s voice, full of mirth, made its way into the conversation once more. This time, though, it wasn’t ignored.

Lance let go of Keith and grinned at him, raising his eyebrows before giving a quick motion with his eyes.

Keith caught on immediately and his eyes widened comically, “No. _No_.” He lifted his finger to point at Lance, “You do _not_ want to go there.”

“Oh _c’mon_! It’ll be hilarious!” Lance whined.

Keith looked over at his brother for a split second. He was still standing behind them with his arms crossed, though the tension had drained from his face and he was sporting a soft smile as he looked between the two princes. Unaware of the threat that lurked beneath the surface.

Turning his gaze back to Lance’s face – pouted lip hidden from his target – and he weighed the pros and cons of indulging Lance.

He gave Lance a hard look before turning to Shiro, “Alright, we’re ready. Let’s _go_.”

“You’re no fun.” Lance groaned and slumped over onto Keith’s shoulder, still pouting, “How long do you think it’ll take Pidge to surgically remove the stick from your ass?”

“Oh my _Gods_! _Lance_! _Language_!” Shiro gasped, one hand dropping as the other laid flat against his chest.

Keith looked down and noticed the dangerous twinkle returning to Lance’s eye and he internally groaned, but a smile pulled at his lips anyway, “Yeah Lance,” Keith licked his lips, trying to repress his smile, “Watch your fucking _language_.”

“ _Keith_!” Shiro’s voice cracked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Keith blinked at Shiro innocently, purposefully ignoring Lance continuing to lay on him, laughing now, “Yeah, Shiro?”

Shiro looked between the two of them and both of his eyes pulled in until he looked like a kicked puppy, “I think you two getting along is the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed.”

“Keith!” Lance whined, pushing against Keith some more, “Carry me!”

Keith tried to shrug him off, to no avail, “Carry yourself.” He grumbled, “Oh my Gods, _Lance_. What the _fuck_ are you doing? Leave me _alone_!” Lance had begun pawing at Keith’s face while trying to secretly crawl into Keith’s arms.

“Carry me.” His whined words were long and drawn out over many seconds.

“No.” Keith rolled his eyes before shoving Lance at his brother, who immediately and subconsciously caught and picked him up.

Lance turned his eyes to Shiro, a smile already on his face, “Why, thank you, Shiro. You’re such a gentleman.” He kicked back, legs extending to the sky as his hands went behind his head, “Unlike your _brother_.”

“I’m adopted.” Keith said monotonously, crossing his arms and stretching his neck a bit.

“Don’t tell people that, Keith.” Shiro huffed, starting to walk away with Lance in his arms, “Or they’ll believe you.”

Keith followed beside Shiro, his hands reaching up to rest behind his head as he looked over at Lance’s face, “Lance have you even ridden Blue yet?”

“No. But I’m sure it can’t be that much different from riding horses.” Keith snorted at Lance’s pride, but said nothing else.

His eyes were closed, Keith noted, and his face looked peaceful. _I wonder if he looks like this when he sleeps…_ His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a bit at the sudden thought. He dropped his hands and said nothing else. He continued to gaze at Lance, even when his distractedness made him stumble over a piece of rug.

He only stopped looking at Lance when he caught Shiro smirking in his peripheral.

\--

Lance’s shrill voice made Keith flinch and look back to the ground. Blue had barely moved, but Keith could see Lance clutching desperately at her mane. He had no more time to look because Red took off into the sky and his heart soared.

The wind roared past his ears and he closed his eyes, letting go of her to let himself fall. It was exhilarating and it was exactly what he needed to calm the thoughts in his mind. He flipped around in the air to look back down at the ground, curiously calm even as he plummeted to the ground below.

At the last minute, Red was suddenly under him and he caught her mane to pull himself back onto her. She had no harness, but that was how they liked to ride. They both agreed that a harness proved more dangerous to them than riding free.

Lance, on the other hand, was strapped in tight to Blue’s back with no risk of falling. Not even an inch.

They came to a halt next to Blue and Lance, and Red headbutted her mate, growling affectionately.

“What’s the hold up, Lance?” Keith called, amused as he leaned back and stretched his arms over his head. “I thought it would be as easy as riding a horse?”

Lance cut his eyes to Keith in a glare, “You. _Shut_ up.”

Keith laughed before swinging his leg over to face Lance. He reached up to pull what was left of his ponytail out and run his fingers through it, “C’mon it’s not that bad. You trust Blue, don’t you?”

Lance frowned, “I mean, _yeah_ , I do. But Alteans aren’t adrenaline junkies.” He paused, staring straight ahead, more than obviously listening to what Blue was saying to him.

Keith waited until Lance shook his head and refocused his attention, “Kolians aren’t adrenaline junkies… Actually, no…” He chuckled and rubbed his neck, “Our unofficial national sport is cliff diving, so I guess we are.” He shook his head, “But that’s beside the point. If you trust Blue, you can fly.” He shrugged, “She does all of the work anyway. All you have to do is hold on.”

“Keith…” Lance started, finally calming down and sitting up, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Uh… Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow before sticking his hairtie between his teeth and reaching up to braid his bangs back from his face.

He paused, looking at Keith before quickly turning away, “What is a bondmate?”

Keith startled, gaze flashing toward the dragon’s heads for a moment before returning to Lance, “W-where did you hear that term?” He cleared his throat, trying to fake nonchalance.

He shrugged and sighed, “Nowhere, I don’t know. Blue just keeps referring to you as my bondmate, so I just wanted to know what it meant.” He then stretched his arms over his head, “Whatever, I think I’m ready to fly now.” He crossed one arm and stretched it before doing the same to the other. Afterwards, he shook his arms out and did a bit of a shimmy before once more tangling his hands in Blue’s mane.

“Lance.” Keith called, securing his hair quickly, “A bondmate is…” he hesitated before readjusting his position on Red’s back as well, looking forward at the two dragons, “It just means you and I are bonded to mated dragons.” He finished after some internal debate.

Both dragons turned their heads slightly and made eye contact with Keith.

He looked down, drawing in a deep breath before leaning forward a bit, _Let’s go._

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lance startle a bit when both dragons let out a roar before taking off into the sky.

Both dragons took off at a speed faster than Keith knew how to calculate, though Red started flying corkscrews around Blue, so close that Keith could swear he felt Lance’s hair against his neck.

“No! Can’t do it! Take me back down! _Blue_!” Keith could hear Lance’s screams as if they were his own and he sighed.

 _Red, slow down for a second._ He felt her confusion, though she listened and hovered upside down over Blue.

Keith let himself turn and fall so he was on Blue’s back behind Lance, positioned awkwardly around the restraints and the harness, and he reached forward, laying his hands over Lance’s in Blue’s mane. His chin rested on Lance’s tense shoulder, “Calm down, you fool.” He growled when Lance shifted abruptly, trying to push back against Keith, “Before you knock me down.”

“Keith? What are you doing here?” Lance’s voice was high and his eyes wide as he tried to look Keith in the eye.

“Shut up.” His cheeks were red, he knew, but he did his best to ignore it and nudged forward with his shoulder, “Pay attention, cause I’m only going to say this once.” Lance nodded and faced forward again, body still tense, “Feel Blue inside of you – here.” He pried Lance’s hand, ignoring his whimpers, and wrestled it back until their hands were splayed over Lance’s chest, “Can you feel her heart beat alongside your own? Her lungs fill deeply as yours do?” He let go of Lance’s hand to reach up to poke his forehead, “Do you hear her speak to you? Feel her emotions as if they were your own? She is you and you are her. There is no need to fear this part of you.” His last words were quiet, more for himself than for Lance, though he felt Lance relax after hearing them.

“Thank you, Keith.” Lance said quietly after a few more minutes, “I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just catch up to Shiro.”

“What do you mean? Shiro’s right beside us?” Lance turned back around to look at Keith oddly.

Keith, himself, snapped his neck to the side to see his brother flying next to them with a shit-eating grin on his face. He lifted a hand to wave his fingers at Keith.

It was in that moment Keith realized just how close and intimate his position was behind Lance and he felt his face burned brighter than ever. _WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SHIRO WAS THERE?_ He recoiled from Lance and reached up to grab onto Red’s mane, who righted herself to let Keith pull himself into the correct position. He lowered himself almost all the way and buried his face in her silky mane.

He then realized his audio level was all the way down, and promptly adjusted it to an appropriate level. Once his hearing was back to normal, he could hear Nyx’s wings beating through the air and mentally facepalmed. _Of course_ that was why he _should_ have known Shiro was right next to them.

 _Blue and I were wondering if there was a specific reason you neglected to properly inform your bondmate on what a bondmate is._ Red was reserved, careful not to push the wrong buttons with him, _She wishes to inform him thoroughly, but I convinced her to wait and let you tell him._

 _Thank you._ His face was still buried in her mane, _I… I’ll tell him. He might truly hate me when I do, but I’ll tell him. I’ll try to do it before the ball._

_My Chosen will know before the third moon from now rises. The ways of the Old Majik are not to be toyed with, boy. Either you will tell him, or I._

Keith startled at the commanding voice that entered his mind, so like Red’s and yet, far different, and he immediately submitted to her, palm going to his heart, _I solemnly swear that I will tell him before the third moonrise._

Keith felt her leave his mind with a flourish, Red twitching against his consciousness in agitation.

He lifted his head and let out a heavy sigh, _She’s scary._ He laughed a little before pulling himself up to stand on Red’s back, lifting his face to the wind, _I can see what drew you to her._

At his words, Red calmed. Her echoing laugh trilled across his mind, _She worries, love._ Keith felt her pause with every fiber of his being, _She is egg heavy and freshly Bonded, so she worries._

Keith’s gaze fell to the powerful shape of Lance’s dragon, cutting through the wind as if it were water, before his sight locked onto the boy on her back. The person there now was not the same person there ten minutes ago. The scared boy ready to puke himself was replaced by someone meant to be in the sky.

As if feeling his gaze, Lance looked up and met Keith’s eye, a grin on his face. He waved wildly up at Keith before returning his gaze forward.

The cold claws of panic gripped at his stomach and pulled themselves up to his throat.

With that, he jumped to the clouds below.

\--

It was weird, having his feet back on solid ground after what felt like a lifetime in the air.

Lance was extra bubbly, gushing to Shiro about Keith helping him get over his fear.

Shiro was being a shit about it, of course. He was constantly interrupting Lance to have him repeat miniscule details or to ask for Keith’s affirmation on miniscule details.

It was aggravating.

Keith reached up to yank his hair out of it’s braid, raking his fingers through knots with little care, but paused, ten fingers tangled at the top of his head and a few pieces of his hair haphazardly laying against his forehead, when he noticed Shiro and Lance had stopped talking. He turned around and was shocked to see both princes staring at him.

Self-consciously he quickly pulled his fingers free and brushed a piece of hair out from in front of his eye, “What? Why’d you stop talking?”

“Why are you taking your hair down?” It was Lance who had asked, though soon after looked like he wished he hadn’t’ve done so.

“Uh…” Keith paused, scraping his nails through his messy hair to push it back a little, “Cause we’re done flying? I don’t know. Why not?”

“No, it’s just…” Lance stopped and looked up at Shiro awkwardly, shifting on his feet.

It took a ridiculous amount of time for Shiro to understand, but when he did, he clapped his hands together loudly in the tense silence, “Whelp. Time to hit the showers.” With that, he nodded at them both and started walking away, whistling a tune.

Keith kept his eyes on Lance, suddenly worried about what was about to be said.

“I was just going to say you look pretty – er, _prettier_ – with your hair out of your face.” He reached up and scratched his neck, “It’s nice to see your eyes. They’re nice. Pretty.”

“They’re my dad’s.” Keith blurted and cleared his throat loudly, pushing some hair behind his ear, “Not, like, his _actual_ eyes. That’d be weird. Um, but, yeah. I’ve always been told I have my dad’s eyes, so yeah. They’re nice, I guess. I can see out of them, so that’s good.” _Love, please stop talking this moment._ “So, uh. Why’d you make Shiro leave? He looked like he was having fun, I don’t know. Did you want to catch up to him? I can get out of your hair – well, not your actual hair, because I’m not on your head. I mean, if I was touching your head and you told me to stop, I would.” _Keith._ He could feel both _his_ embarrassment and _Red’s_ second-hand embarrassment, “I’m going to stop talking now.”

Lance looked unsure about what to do next, so Keith bowed stiffly from the waist and turned to hurry away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more Klance centered, yeah?  
> Was it good? How'd you feel about it?  
> Questions? Comments? Concerns? Anything confusing?
> 
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**Author's Note:**

> I hope this isn't needed, but I'm going to drop it here just in case I wasn't clear:
> 
> -You may be like "Dragon was 30 feet tall and is now 2 feet tall????? Continuity???" It's not a continuity error, loves. Do you know how in Fantastic Beasts, Occamies can change their size according to the space they need to occupy? Apply that size changing magic to these dragons (Red and Blue), except these dragons can do it whenever they want to.  
> -These dragons (Red and Blue) have the basic body shape of Asian dragons (long and serpentine with four legs and no wings) but have sleek, almost velvet-like skin, with a thick mane and tail fluff (think: lion)  
> ((This stature and personality is what I see for red, though a bit redder: http://i.imgur.com/buizWZi.jpg You know, very regal and refined? However, Red's mane goes further down her body and she's not a sea-dragon.  
> Here is an extremely good one of Blue: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fd/fc/32/fdfc324de3d830cc6663e43f9902e736--fantasy-creatures-mythical-creatures.jpg You know, bluer. This one is actually perfect for the velvet-like skin and the look of the mane for both Red and Blue, though Red is longer. I love it. ))  
> -Black resembles European dragons (giant, scales, leathery wings, scary)  
> (( Basically like this: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/57/53/a3/5753a3049265f35a1d9c19ba80558a2c.jpg ))  
> -Green and Yellow will be teeny baby wyverns
> 
> -Shiro's prosthetic arm is all tech and it is connected to his nerves, so it is fully functional as a hand, just like in the show.  
> -Keith is approximately 80% machine? Give or take? 70% of his actual bone is metal and screws, most of his gastrointestinal track is synthetic, both of his lungs are synthetic, part of his heart is synthetic. His brain is all there, but he has an implant that connects to his nervous system (including his eyes.) His eyes are fake, but they're basically cameras? What he sees is basically a computer dashboard, with the temperature, date, and time in the lower right hand corner. He can connect to wifi/data, so he can pull up the news or search "google." His temperature runs about 85 degrees F (about 10 degrees cooler than the average person).  
> -So, Keith's skin is actual, 100% human skin, but it covers plating, so it can open to reveal the hardware underneath. Along his arms and chest the seams are basically seamless, but his hands, back, and legs are not. (When I say "glow" and "button" I am literally thinking of the design of Iron Man's suit from the movies. Though, a button instead of blasters.) See? An actual use for finger-less gloves.  
>  ~~I've been highly influenced by Marissa Meyer's book "Cinder." If you haven't read it, you should! It's so good! Cinder is like an awesome take on the Cinderella story. Yes, Cinder is a cyborg, and yes, most of her eye functions "influenced" Keith's in this work. Also yes, there is a bit of royalty involved. I didn't steal the plot, I promise! Anyway, please read it!~~


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